WEX Inc. is a provider of payment processing and information management services to the United States commercial and government vehicle fleet industry. The company is headquartered in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

and provides services in the

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, and

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History

The company traces its origins to A.R. Wright, a coal and later heating oil business in

South Portland, Maine South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the List of municipalities in Maine, fourth-most populous city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population wa ...

. In the 1980s, A.R. Wright began allowing trucks to fuel up without having to pay an attendant by using a post-paid

fuel card A fuel card or fleet card is used as a payment card most commonly for gasoline, diesel, and other fuels at gas stations. Fleet cards can also be used to pay for vehicle maintenance and expenses at the discretion of the fleet owner or manager. Mos ...

, leading to the creation of Wright Express Corporation in 1983. SafeCard purchased Wright Express Corp. in 1994. On February 20, 1996,

CUC International CUC (Comp-U-Card) International Inc. was a membership-based consumer services conglomerate with travel, shopping, auto, dining, home improvement and financial services offered to more than 60 million customers worldwide based in Stamford, Connect ...

acquired SafeCard (now renamed to Ideon) for $375 million. Following CUC's merger with HFS, Wright Express became part of

Cendant Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Yo ...

. Wright Express went public in 2005. In 2012, it adopted the name WEX, signaling a shift away from focusing on fuel cards and expanding into other payment solutions. In 2019, WEX opened a new 100,000-square-foot headquarters across from the

Ocean Gateway International Marine Passenger Terminal The Ocean Gateway International Marine Passenger Terminal is a cruise ship terminal in Portland, Maine, United States. It was built in two phases: Phase 1 being a new terminal building that in 2008 replaced the original "International Marine Ter ...

in Portland, Maine. The company continues to have a significant presence in South Portland. WEX is one of 10 founding corporate partners of the Roux Institute at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

, which leases a portion of the WEX headquarters for its campus.

Operations

WEX Fleet provides vehicle fleet customers with

s and data and telematics offerings for drivers. In 2012, WEX Fleet acquired Fleet One to provide fleet cards to drivers. WEX Fleet also partners with

GasBuddy GasBuddy is a technology company headquartered in Dallas that offers mobile applications and websites for tracking crowd-sourced locations and prices of gas stations and convenience stores in the United States and Canada. Their platforms offer i ...

OnDeck Capital OnDeck Capital is an American small business lending company with offices in Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Denver, CO Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is lo ...

, and

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, among other companies, to provide services to customers. In 2017, WEX Fleet launched a new telematics platform, ClearView Advanced. The travel segment, WEX Virtual, helps online travel agencies facilitate cross-border payments through virtual cards, allowing online travel agencies to automate back-end accounting practices. WEX Virtual launched in 2000 in support of customers including HitchHiker, HotelTonight, Expedia, and Priceline. In 2014, WEX acquired Evolution1, a cloud-based health industry payments provider, later renaming it to WEX Health. WEX Health Cloud helps to administer defined-contribution, wellness, and transit plans, among others. Its partners include Fifth Third Bancorp, Paychex, HSA Bank, and Discovery Benefits. In January 2020, the company announced it would acquire travel payments companies eNett and Optal from

Travelport Travelport Worldwide Ltd. provides distribution, technology, and payment solutions for the travel and tourism industry. It is the smallest, by revenue, of the top three global distribution systems (GDS) after Amadeus IT Group and Sabre Corporatio ...

for $577.5 million. Melissa D. Smith became CEO of Wex in 2014, with annual revenue nearly tripling during her tenure, as of November 2023. She is known for implementing an aggressive acquisition strategy and investing in early-stage companies. As of 2024, Smith is the highest-paid executive of any public company in Maine. WEX provides services in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, and Australia. It also operates the wholly owned banking subsidiary WEX Bank.

References

External links

{{authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Service companies of the United States Companies based in Cumberland County, Maine South Portland, Maine 2005 initial public offerings Companies in the S&P 400